Trust Cannot be Taught, it Can Only be Experienced

Posted by Dawna MacLean on 27th September 2011

SHARE THIS POST :

The popularity of the word “trust” is at an all time high. While I celebrate the wide spread appreciation for the significance of trust in business, it is important to recognize that trust cannot be learned through a book or an article, it can only be experienced. In fact it is tough to even try to convey what trust is. I read a great blog post earlier today that inspired me to further explore the notion of how challenging it is to communicate trust. The blog post is in context of Agile but the problem they tackle regarding the notion of trying to implement trust is universal.

If you were to draw what trust means to you, or to attempt to convey what it means, how would you do that? It’s recent fame clearly indicates we see the value of trust, but how do we create it? How do we build trust with our employees, customers and partners? Trust cannot be manufactured through methodology, process or practice, it can only be experienced through our behaviour and human interactions. This often entails changing our behaviour at the core which cannot be underestimated in terms of effort, nor should it be underestimated in terms of the returns it yields as you first seek Unimaginable Clarity.

While trust in of itself cannot be taught or manufactured, we can further develop our understanding of psychology and create a deeper awareness of our cognitive behavior that drives how we interact with others. Arguably the intent of the Customer Experience discipline is to create trust in one’s services, products and ultimately in one’s brand broadly. Building trust is not easy, nor is it prescriptive, but it is a currency that weathers market volatility and it is essential to fostering loyalty.